Leadership crisis deepens as Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) declared several key positions within its structure vacant, insisting that the development is in line with its constitution.

The Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BoT), Bashir Dalhatu, disclosed that the decision followed concerns over tenure limits raised by members of the Forum.

According to him, in a statement on Wednesday, the BoT acted in compliance with constitutional provisions guiding leadership tenure and succession.

He said, “Recently, the Board of Trustees, in line with its duty of ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Forum’s Constitution… took several steps which did not seem to have pleased some people, especially Mallam Murtala Aliyu, the Secretary General”.

Dalhatu noted that the ACF constitution provides for a six-year single tenure for BoT leaders, while National Executive Council (NEC) officials are limited to three years, renewable once.

He said a petition by concerned members prompted a review of the tenure of some officials who assumed office in March 2020.

“The matter was subsequently discussed at the meeting of the BOT… after hearing from those concerned, the BOT resolved… that the tenure of certain officials… would have expired by the 10th of March 2026, having exhausted the maximum six years allowed,” he stated.

Those affected include the Deputy Chairman of the BoT, Senator F. Orti; Vice Chairman, Ambassador Ibrahim Mai Sule; Deputy Chairman of NEC, Senator Ibrahim Ida; and the Secretary-General, Mallam Murtala Aliyu.

The BoT chairman remarked that the positions became vacant on March 10, 2026, adding that the Secretary-General was granted time to complete his handover.

“Mallam Murtala Aliyu… was allowed, at his request, to work on his handover notes… not later than Friday, the 15th of May, 2026,” he said.

Dalhatu, however, expressed concern that Aliyu had rejected the decision and refused to step down, adding, “but in a baffling twist of events… he is… the only person among the four officials… refusing to step down”.

He disclosed further that efforts were made to resolve the issue amicably through high-level meetings involving elders of the forum.

“Rather than giving his personal cooperation in good faith, the next thing Murtala Aliyu did was to summon an ‘Emergency Meeting’… in the hope… of reversing the decision asking him to step down,” he added.

Despite the developments, Dalhatu maintained that there is no leadership crisis within the forum.

“The above narrative summarizes 100 per cent of the events which the media are now describing as ‘leadership split or power crisis’… Nothing of the sort exists,” he said.

He also dismissed allegations of financial impropriety, stressing that all funds under the ACF Endowment Programme were secure.

“Every single kobo collected as donations… has been deposited safely in the bank… far away from the reach of the Secretariat, the NEC, and… the BOT,” he stressed.

The ACF BoT chairman urged the public to disregard what he described as misinformation aimed at discrediting the forum, insisting that the leadership changes are constitutional and routine. (Guardian)